LotFP Rules & Magic Full Version

Mystery and Imagination

Adventure and Death

Beyond the veil of reality, beyond the influence of manipulating politicians,

greedy merchants, iron-handed clergy, and the broken masses that toil for

their benefit, echoes of other realms call to those bold enough, and desperate

enough, to escape the oppression of mundane life. Treasure and glory await

those courageous enough to wrest it from the darkness. But the danger is

great, for lurking in the forgotten shadows are forces far stranger and more

perilous than even civilization. The price of freedom might be paid in souls.

LotFP: Weird Fantasy Role-Playing presents a sinister and horrific twist

on traditional fantasy gaming. Simple enough for a beginner yet meaty enough

for the veteran, this game will make all your worst nightmares come true.

This book is a revision of the Rules & Magic book

originally found in the LotFP: Weird Fantasy Role-Playing boxed set.

It contains all the rules needed to play the game.

This is the first book of a two book set. The Referee Core Book: Procedures and

Inspirations contains information and guidance about constructing and running

campaigns and adventures.

R

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LamentationS

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_{Weird Fantasy Role-Playing}

LamentationS

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Flame PrincesS

_{Weird Fantasy Role-Playing}

LamentationS

of the

Flame PrincesS

_{Weird Fantasy Role-Playing}

1

La m en ta ti o n S of the Fl a m e P r in c es S W ei r d F a n ta sy R o le -P la yi n g La m en ta ti o n S of the Fl a m e P r in c es S W ei r d F a n ta sy R o le -P la yi n g La m en ta ti o n S of the Fl a m e P r in c es S W ei r d F a n ta sy R o le -P la yi n g

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EXPLICIT CONTENT

Player Core Book

Rules

&

Magic

© James Edward Raggi IV 2013

LamentationS

of the

Flame PrincesS

Weird Fantasy Role-Playing

LamentationS

of the

Flame PrincesS

Weird Fantasy Role-Playing

LamentationS

of the

Flame PrincesS

Weird Fantasy Role-Playing

www.lotfp.com

Poor 1 sp 5 cp Winter Travel 10 sp 5 sp Cooking Pots 1 sp 5 cp Crampons 5 sp 5 sp Crowbar 2 sp 2 sp Drill 5 sp 5 sp Fishing Gear 1 sp 1 sp Flask of Lamp Oil 5 cp 5 cp

Garlic 3 cp 1 cp

Gem > 5 sp > 5 sp Grappling Hook 5 sp 10 sp

Holy Symbol, Silver 25 sp 50 sp

Steel 10 sp 10 sp Wood 1 sp 1 cp Holy Water 25 sp 25 sp Hourglass 100 sp – Ink 1 cp 5 cp Instrument > 1 sp > 5 sp Jewelry > 10 sp > 10 sp Ladder, 10' 10 sp 7 sp Lantern 3 sp 5 sp Lard 1 cp 1 cp Lock 7 sp 10 sp Mallet 3 cp 3 cp Manacles 10 sp 15 sp Map, Kingdom 10 sp 25 sp Local 1 sp 5 sp Mirror, Glass 10 sp 15 sp Silver 30 sp – Steel 1 sp 5 sp Nails 1 cp 2 cp Paper 2 cp 2 cp Pick, Miner’s 6 sp 12 sp Pipe 1 sp 5 cp Pole, 10' 1 sp 5 cp Riding Gear 25 sp 10 sp Rope, 50' 3 sp 3 sp Scroll Case 1 sp 3 sp Shovel 3 sp 3 sp Soap 1 cp 1 cp Specialist’s Tools 50 sp – Spike, Iron 3 cp 5 cp Wooden 1 cp 1 cp Spyglass 250 sp – Tent, Grand 25 sp – Pavilion 50 sp – Personal 5 sp 10 sp Regular 10 sp 20 sp Tinderbox 1 sp 5 sp Tobacco 1 sp 5 cp Torch 1 cp 1 cp

Vial or Bottle, Empty 5 cp 7 cp

Waterskin 1 sp 1 sp

Whistle 1 sp 1 sp

Wolvesbane 1 sp 1 cp

ARMOR CITY RURAL

Armor, Leather 25 sp 50 sp Chain 100 sp – Plate 1,000 sp – Shield 10 sp 25 sp Barding, Leather 250 sp – Chain 500 sp – Plate 1,000 sp –

MÊLÉE WEAPONS CITY RURAL

Cestus 10 sp – Garrote 5 sp – Lance 30 sp – Mancatcher 20 sp – Polearm 30 sp – Rapier 15 sp – Spear 5 sp 3 sp Staff 5 sp 3 sp Weapon, Great 50 sp – Medium 20 sp 50 sp Minor 5 sp 5 sp Small 10 sp 10 sp Whip 10 sp 25 sp

MISSILE WEAPONS CITY RURAL

Blowgun 5 sp – Bow, Long 45 sp – Short 25 sp 25 sp Crossbow, Heavy 30 sp – Light 25 sp – Rock – – Sling 1 sp 5 cp Dart 1 sp – Spear 5 sp 3 sp

Other Thrown Weapon same as mêlée equiv.

Italicized items are Non-Encumbering. Items listed

in both italics and bold are Oversized.

PRICE LIST

ANIMALS CITY RURAL

Carrier Pigeon 100 sp 100 sp Dog 1 sp 2 sp Horse, Riding 100 sp 100 sp War 500 sp – Livestock 10 sp 5 sp Mule 50 sp 25 sp Pony 75 sp 50 sp

CONTAINERS CITY RURAL

Backpack 3 sp 1 sp Barrel 1 sp 5 sp Chest 10 sp 5 sp Pouch 5 cp 1 cp Quiver 5 sp 10 sp Sack 5 cp 2 cp Saddlebag 1 sp 5 cp

VEHICLES CITY RURAL

Cart 50 sp 25 sp Coach 500 sp – Wagon 150 sp 75 sp Chariot 250 sp – Boat, Raft 5 sp 5 sp Canoe 30 sp 25 sp Lifeboat 100 sp – Ship, Trireme 10,000 sp – Quadrireme 50,000 sp – Longship 30,000 sp – River Galley 4,000 sp 8,000 sp Riverboat 1,000 sp 2,000 sp Sailboat 6,000 sp 12,000 sp Cog 15,000 sp – Caravel 39,000 sp – Carrack 48,000 sp – Galleon 60,000 sp – Cutter 45,000 sp – Brig 90,000 sp – Corvette 135,000 sp – Frigate 180,000 sp –

FOOD CITY RURAL

Bottle of Wine/Liquor, Poor 5 cp 2 cp Decent > 1 sp > 1 sp Rich > 10 sp – Drink, Cheap 1 cp 1 cp Decent 3 cp 2 cp Good 6 cp 4 cp Rich > 15 sp > 10 sp Meal, Fancy 1 sp 5 cp Horrid 2 cp 1 cp Rich > 15 sp > 10 sp Standard 5 cp 3 cp Rations, Iron/Day 2 sp 1 sp Standard/Day 1 sp 5 cp Feed, Animal/Day 1 sp 5 cp

SERVICES CITY RURAL

Post, Local 1 sp – Municipal 5 sp – Kingdom 15 sp 15 sp Outrealm 25 sp 25 sp Coach, Local 1 sp – Travel, per day 10 sp 10 sp Charter, per day 20 sp – Freight, per pound per day 5 cp 5 cp Ship, Passage, per day 2 sp – Charter, per day 100 sp 100 sp

LODGING CITY RURAL

Barn – 1 cp Inn, Poor 1 sp 5 cp Average 5 sp 2 sp Secure 10 sp 5 sp Fancy > 25 sp > 2 sp Extravagant > 100 sp > 25 sp Rent, 1 month (per 10' sq.) 30 sp 15 sp

MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT CITY RURAL

Air Bladder 1 sp 1 sp

Bedroll 2 sp 1 sp

Block and Tackle 2 sp 3 sp Book, Blank 5 sp 10 sp Reading 10 sp 20 sp Spell (Blank) 100 sp –

Caltrop 5 cp –

Candle 1 cp 1 cp

Chain, per foot 1 sp 2 sp

Chalk 1 cp 1 cp

Clothing, Extravagant > 20 sp –

Poor 1 sp 5 cp Winter Travel 10 sp 5 sp Cooking Pots 1 sp 5 cp Crampons 5 sp 5 sp Crowbar 2 sp 2 sp Drill 5 sp 5 sp Fishing Gear 1 sp 1 sp Flask of Lamp Oil 5 cp 5 cp

Garlic 3 cp 1 cp

Gem > 5 sp > 5 sp Grappling Hook 5 sp 10 sp

Holy Symbol, Silver 25 sp 50 sp

Steel 10 sp 10 sp Wood 1 sp 1 cp Holy Water 25 sp 25 sp Hourglass 100 sp – Ink 1 cp 5 cp Instrument > 1 sp > 5 sp Jewelry > 10 sp > 10 sp Ladder, 10' 10 sp 7 sp Lantern 3 sp 5 sp Lard 1 cp 1 cp Lock 7 sp 10 sp Mallet 3 cp 3 cp Manacles 10 sp 15 sp Map, Kingdom 10 sp 25 sp Local 1 sp 5 sp Mirror, Glass 10 sp 15 sp Silver 30 sp – Steel 1 sp 5 sp Nails 1 cp 2 cp Paper 2 cp 2 cp Pick, Miner’s 6 sp 12 sp Pipe 1 sp 5 cp Pole, 10' 1 sp 5 cp Riding Gear 25 sp 10 sp Rope, 50' 3 sp 3 sp Scroll Case 1 sp 3 sp Shovel 3 sp 3 sp Soap 1 cp 1 cp Specialist’s Tools 50 sp – Spike, Iron 3 cp 5 cp Wooden 1 cp 1 cp Spyglass 250 sp – Tent, Grand 25 sp – Pavilion 50 sp – Personal 5 sp 10 sp Regular 10 sp 20 sp Tinderbox 1 sp 5 sp Tobacco 1 sp 5 cp Torch 1 cp 1 cp

Vial or Bottle, Empty 5 cp 7 cp

Waterskin 1 sp 1 sp

Whistle 1 sp 1 sp

Wolvesbane 1 sp 1 cp

ARMOR CITY RURAL

Armor, Leather 25 sp 50 sp Chain 100 sp – Plate 1,000 sp – Shield 10 sp 25 sp Barding, Leather 250 sp – Chain 500 sp – Plate 1,000 sp –

MÊLÉE WEAPONS CITY RURAL

Cestus 10 sp – Garrote 5 sp – Lance 30 sp – Mancatcher 20 sp – Polearm 30 sp – Rapier 15 sp – Spear 5 sp 3 sp Staff 5 sp 3 sp Weapon, Great 50 sp – Medium 20 sp 50 sp Minor 5 sp 5 sp Small 10 sp 10 sp Whip 10 sp 25 sp

MISSILE WEAPONS CITY RURAL

Blowgun 5 sp – Bow, Long 45 sp – Short 25 sp 25 sp Crossbow, Heavy 30 sp – Light 25 sp – Rock – – Sling 1 sp 5 cp Dart 1 sp – Spear 5 sp 3 sp

Other Thrown Weapon same as mêlée equiv.

Italicized items are Non-Encumbering. Items listed

in both italics and bold are Oversized.

PRICE LIST

ANIMALS CITY RURAL

Carrier Pigeon 100 sp 100 sp Dog 1 sp 2 sp Horse, Riding 100 sp 100 sp War 500 sp – Livestock 10 sp 5 sp Mule 50 sp 25 sp Pony 75 sp 50 sp

CONTAINERS CITY RURAL

Backpack 3 sp 1 sp Barrel 1 sp 5 sp Chest 10 sp 5 sp Pouch 5 cp 1 cp Quiver 5 sp 10 sp Sack 5 cp 2 cp Saddlebag 1 sp 5 cp

VEHICLES CITY RURAL

Cart 50 sp 25 sp Coach 500 sp – Wagon 150 sp 75 sp Chariot 250 sp – Boat, Raft 5 sp 5 sp Canoe 30 sp 25 sp Lifeboat 100 sp – Ship, Trireme 10,000 sp – Quadrireme 50,000 sp – Longship 30,000 sp – River Galley 4,000 sp 8,000 sp Riverboat 1,000 sp 2,000 sp Sailboat 6,000 sp 12,000 sp Cog 15,000 sp – Caravel 39,000 sp – Carrack 48,000 sp – Galleon 60,000 sp – Cutter 45,000 sp – Brig 90,000 sp – Corvette 135,000 sp – Frigate 180,000 sp –

FOOD CITY RURAL

Bottle of Wine/Liquor, Poor 5 cp 2 cp Decent > 1 sp > 1 sp Rich > 10 sp – Drink, Cheap 1 cp 1 cp Decent 3 cp 2 cp Good 6 cp 4 cp Rich > 15 sp > 10 sp Meal, Fancy 1 sp 5 cp Horrid 2 cp 1 cp Rich > 15 sp > 10 sp Standard 5 cp 3 cp Rations, Iron/Day 2 sp 1 sp Standard/Day 1 sp 5 cp Feed, Animal/Day 1 sp 5 cp

SERVICES CITY RURAL

Post, Local 1 sp – Municipal 5 sp – Kingdom 15 sp 15 sp Outrealm 25 sp 25 sp Coach, Local 1 sp – Travel, per day 10 sp 10 sp Charter, per day 20 sp – Freight, per pound per day 5 cp 5 cp Ship, Passage, per day 2 sp – Charter, per day 100 sp 100 sp

LODGING CITY RURAL

Barn – 1 cp Inn, Poor 1 sp 5 cp Average 5 sp 2 sp Secure 10 sp 5 sp Fancy > 25 sp > 2 sp Extravagant > 100 sp > 25 sp Rent, 1 month (per 10' sq.) 30 sp 15 sp

MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT CITY RURAL

Air Bladder 1 sp 1 sp

Bedroll 2 sp 1 sp

Block and Tackle 2 sp 3 sp Book, Blank 5 sp 10 sp Reading 10 sp 20 sp Spell (Blank) 100 sp –

Caltrop 5 cp –

Candle 1 cp 1 cp

Chain, per foot 1 sp 2 sp

Chalk 1 cp 1 cp

Clothing, Extravagant > 20 sp –

2013

†

Lamentations of the Flame Princess

WEIRD FANTASY

Role-Playing



Player Core Book:

Rules & Magic

Written by

James Edward Raggi IV

Writer, Publisher

Mattias Wikström/Tigerbyte

Layout, Typography

Matthew Pook

Hardcover Reprint Editing

Dave Arneson, David Cook, Matt Finch, Chris Gonnerman, Gary Gygax, John Eric Holmes, Steve Marsh, Stuart Marshall,

Frank Mentzer, Tom Moldvay, Dan Proctor

Inspiration

Rowena Aitken (heads p. 75–151), Aeron Alfrey (p. 138, back endpaper),

Ernie Chan (p. 32), Dean Clayton (p. 88, 118), Vincent Locke (p. 72), Eric Lofgren (p. 37, 38, 42, 45, 74, 84, 104, 106, 109, 112, 115, 120, 124, 130, 143, 154), Rich Longmore (p. 28, 52, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165), Russ Nicholson (p. 26, 78), Jason Rainville (p. 65, 66, 67, 68, 71), Cynthia Sheppard (cover, front endpaper, p. 69, 70), Amos Orion Sterns (p. 6, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18–19, 20, 22, 24, 41,

54–55, 56–57, 59, 60–61, 62-63, 64, 73, 83, 86, 152, 166)

Illustrations

Jeremy Jagosz

Character Sheet

Lamentations of the Flame Princess

Weird Fantasy Role-Playing—Player Core Book: Rules & Magic © James Edward Raggi IV 2013

First Edition (Revised), Third Printing 2013 Published by Lamentations of the Flame Princess

ISBN 978-952-5904-45-1

Funded through:

“Lamentations of the Flame Princess” and “LotFP” are trademarks owned by James Edward Raggi IV

Table of Contents



Character Creation ...5

Roll Ability Scores ...5

Explanation of Ability Scores ...5

Summary...5

Is the Character Suitable? ...6

Choose a Character Class ...6

Determine Hit Points ...7

Record Attack Bonus and Saving Throws ...7

Select Alignment ...8

Lawful ...8

Chaotic ...8

Neutral ...8

Determine Starting Possessions ...8

Starting Money ...8 Buy Equipment ...9 Choose a Name ...9 Cleric ...11 Fighter ...13 Magic-User ...15 Specialist ...17 Dwarf ...21 Elf ...23 Halfling ...25 Equipment Lists ...27

Adventuring: The Rules of the Game ...31

Architecture ...31 Climbing ...31 Doors ...31 Excavations ...33 Experience Points ...33 Defeating Enemies ...33 Recovering Treasure ...33 Gaining a Level ...34

Foraging and Hunting ...34

Getting Lost...35

Hazards ...35

Ability Score Loss ...35

Aging ...35

Damage ...35

Disease ...35

Drugs & Alcohol ...36

Falling ...36 Poison ...36 Starvation ...36 Sleep Deprivation ...36 Healing ...36 Languages ...37

Light and Vision ...37

Mapping ...37

Movement and Encumbrance ...38

Mounts ...39 Searching ...39 Sleight of Hand ...40 Stealth ...40 Swimming ...40 Time...40 Tinkering ...40 Traps ...41 Maritime Adventures ...43 Water Vessels ...43 Water Conditions ...44 Crew ...44

Encounters at Sea ...45

Waterborne Chases ...45

Waterborne Combat ...45

Vessels and Damage ...45

Ship-to-Ship Combat ...46 Boarding Vessels...46 Retainers ...47 Accountant ...48 Alchemist ...48 Animal Handler ...48 Armorer ...48 Butler ...48 Coachman ...49 Craftsman ...49 Guard ...49 Guide ...49 Henchman ...49 Laborer ...49 Linkboy ...49 Mercenary ...49 Physician ...50 Sailor ...50 Sailor, Captain...50 Sailor, Navigator ...50 Sailor, Oarsman...50 Scholar ...50 Servant ...50 Slave ...50 Slave Master ...50 Spy ...50 Teamster ...50 Hiring Retainers ...51

When Loyalty Should Be Checked...51

Property and Finance ...53

Property ...53 Upkeep ...53 Taxes ...53 Investment ...53 Yearly Return ...54 Bankrupt! ...54 Encounters ...55 Surprise ...56 Encounter Distance ...56 Reactions ...56 Combat ...56 Initiative ...56

Things to Do in One Round ...56

Other Combat Issues ...58

Unarmed Combat ...62

Clerics ...75

Beginning Spells ...75

Preparing Spells Each Day ...75

Spell Scrolls ...76

Writing a Scroll ...76

Protection Scrolls ...76

Creating Holy Water ...76

Researching a Spell ...76

Time of Magical Activities ...77

Casting Spells ...77

Magic-Users ...79

Beginning Spells ...79

Preparing Spells Each Day ...79

Spell Scrolls ...80

Writing a Scroll ...80

Transcribing Spells ...80

From a Scroll to a Spellbook ...80

From Spellbook to Spellbook ...80

Researching a Spell ...80

Creating a Potion ...81

Creating a Staff or Wand ...81

Determine What Spells the Item Will Contain ...81

Enter the Original Charges ...81

Recharging a Staff or Wand ...81

Time of Magical Activities ...82

Casting Spells ...82

Libraries and Laboratories ...83

Cleric Spells ...85 Magic-User Spells ...87 Spell Descriptions ...89 Appendix ...153 Glossary ...155 Firearms ...157

5

Roll Ability

ScoReS

Roll 3d6 for each ability score (Charisma, Constitu-tion, Dexterity, Intelligence, Strength, Wisdom), in order, and record them on your character sheet.

A player can decide to swap the position of one ability score that was rolled with another.

Each ability score has a Modifier which is associ-ated with it:

Ability Score Modifier

3 –3 4–5 –2 6–8 –1 9–12  0 13–15 +1 16–17 +2 18 +3

explAnAtion of Ability ScoreS

Charisma

Charisma is the measure of a character’s aptitude for leadership and the respect that others bestow on the character’s authority. It is not a measure of the appeal of a character’s personality (the player must portray the character’s personality) nor a measure of the character’s beauty. Charisma modifiers affect

both the character’s ability to hire retainers and the loyalty of those retainers.

Constitution

Constitution is the measure of a character’s health, vitality, and toughness. Constitution modifiers affect a character’s Hit Points and fitness for certain physical activities such as traveling long distances.

Dexterity

Dexterity is the measure of a character’s agility and reflexes. Dexterity modifiers affect a character’s Armor Class, ability to hit with ranged weapons, and ability to act first in combat.

Character Creation



SummARy

1. Roll Ability Scores

a. Note Bonuses

b. Is the Character Suitable?

2. Choose a Character Class

a. Determine Hit Points

b. Record To-Hit Bonuses and Saving Throws

3. Select Alignment

4. Determine Starting Possessions

a. Roll Money b. Buy Equipment

6 Rules & Magic

intelligenCe

Intelligence is the measure of a character’s knowl-edge prior to the start of play. Intelligence does not measure a character’s memory or ability to solve puzzles; it is the player’s wits that must be used in these situations. Intelligence modifiers affect the character’s ability to learn languages, are added to saving throw rolls against Magic-User spells, and for Magic-Users it affects the time (and thus expense) required to research spells and create magic items, as well as influencing the saving throws of those subject to the Magic-User’s spells.

strength

Strength is a measure of a character’s raw power. Strength modifiers affect a character’s ability to hit in mêlée combat, open stuck doors, or succeed in unarmed combat.

WisDom

Wisdom is the measure of a character’s connection to the greater universe, and the strength of the char-acter’s spirit. Wisdom does not affect the charchar-acter’s ability to make good decisions or judge situations or characters; it is the player’s own judgment which must be used in these situations. Wisdom modi-fiers affect the character’s non-spell related saving throw rolls, and for Clerics it affects the time (and thus expense) required to research spells and create holy items, as well as influencing the saving throws of those subject to the Cleric’s spells.

iS the chARActeR

SuitAble?

If the total of all of the character’s ability score mod-ifiers is less than zero, then the player may discard the character and begin the process again.

chooSe

A chARActeR clASS

Every Player Character must choose a class. Most people encountered in the game world will have no character class at all, and are known as zero or ‘0’ level characters. A character’s class cannot be changed once play begins.

Four of the Player Character classes are human: Cleric, Fighter, Magic-User, and Specialist. Non-humans are classes unto themselves, and those available to the players are known as Demi-Hu-mans: Dwarf, Elf, and Halfling.

7 Character Creation

DeteRmine

hit PointS

Randomly determine the character’s starting Hit Points (HP) according to his level chart, and add the character’s Constitution modifier. First level characters have a minimum number of Hit Points they possess. If the rolled amount is less than the indicated number on the following chart, simply use the number shown on the chart instead.

clASS MiniMuM Hit pointS

Cleric 4 Fighter 8 Magic-User 3 Specialist 4 Dwarf 6 Elf 4 Halfling 4

These minimums are not used when rolling for Hit Points gained after first level. For determining Hit Points at level two and higher, it is simply the shown die roll plus the Constitution modifier.

The character’s starting Hit Points are the maximum Hit Points the character can ever have without gaining a level. While the character will lose Hit Points in various ways during the course of adventuring, there are different methods of healing damage done. No amount of healing can cause the character to gain more than his normal maximum number of Hit Points.

RecoRD AttAck

bonuS AnD SAving

thRowS

In combat, the attacking character makes a d20 roll, and if the roll (after all modifiers are applied) is equal to or greater than the target’s Armor Class, the attack is a success. A natural 20 is always a hit

(unless the enemy is only vulnerable to special weapon types which the attacker does not possess, but this is a rare situation), and a natural 1 is always a miss.

Many characters, including all Player Characters, get an Attack Bonus which they add to their to-hit roll. As the following chart shows, most classes get a +1 Attack Bonus. The Fighter (and only the Fighter) gets an Attack Bonus of +2 at first level, and gains an additional +1 every time a level is gained.

fighter All others Attack bonus

Level 0 Level 0   0 – Level 1+  +1 Level 1  +2 Level 2  +3 Level 3  +4 Level 4  +5 Level 5  +6 Level 6  +7 Level 7  +8 Level 8  +9 Level 9+ +10

Saving throw charts for Player Characters of all classes and levels are found within the individual class descriptions. The Referee will inform the player when a saving throw needs to be made, and what category of save it is. The number on the chart is the number that needs to be rolled (after all modi-fiers are applied), or higher, to successfully save. A natural 20 is always a successful save, and a natural 1 is always a failed save.

These saving throws cover all possible save situ-ations. When there is a doubt as to which save category to use, start at the left column on the Saving Throw chart and move to the right, using the first category which matches the particular effect.

Paralyzation will cover any effect in which the ¶

victim is unable to move (such as petrification, being the subject of a Hold Person or Web spell,

etc.).

Poison will be used for any situation where Hit ¶

Points are irrelevant and the result is uncon-sciousness or death.

Breath Weapon is used for area effects.

8 Rules & Magic Magical Device includes situations with all magic ¶

items that have spell-like effects, be they wands, staves, rings, etc.

Magic includes any magical effect from a cast ¶

spell or innate ability.

Select Alignment

Alignment is a character’s orientation on a cosmic scale. It has nothing to do with a character’s allegiances, personality, morality, or actions. Align-ments will mostly be used to determine how a character is affected by certain magical elements in the game. The three alignments are Lawful, Neutral, and Chaotic.

lAwful

The universe has an ultimate, irrefutable truth, and a flawless, unchanging plan towards which all events inevitably march. As time moves on, all distraction and resistance to this plan falters until everything is in its perfect state forevermore, without alteration or the possibility of possibilities. Those who are Lawful in alignment are part of an inevitable destiny, but have no knowledge of what that destiny is and what their role will be in fulfilling it. So they are forever looking for signs and omens to show them their proper way.

cHAotic

The howling maelstrom beyond the veil of shadows and existence is the source of all magic. It bends and tears the fabric of the universe; it destroys all that seeks to be permanent. It allows great miracles as reality alters at the whim of those that can call the eldritch forces, and it causes great catastrophe as beings we call demons (and far, far worse) rip into our reality and lay waste to all. Everything that is made will be unmade. Nothing exists, and nothing can ever exist, not in a way that the cosmos can ever recognize. Those who are Chaotic in alignment are touched by magic, and consider the world in terms of ebbing and flowing energy, of eternal tides wash-ing away the sand castles that great kwash-ings and mighty gods build for themselves. Many mortals who are so aligned desperately wish they were not.

neutrAl

To be Neutral is merely to exist between the forces of Law and Chaos. Mortal beings exist as Neutral creatures, and remain so throughout their existence unless taking specific steps (often unwittingly) to align themselves otherwise. In fact, most beings would be rather displeased with the notion of pure Law and Chaos, as they are defined in alignment terms. Even most who would claim allegiance to Law or Chaos are not actually Lawful or Chaotic. In the real world, every human being that has ever existed has been Neutral.

Clerics must be Lawful. Elves and Magic-Users must be Chaotic. All others are free to choose their alignment.

DeteRmine

StARting

PoSSeSSionS

All characters begin their adventuring careers with money and equipment with which to start their adventuring career. Players will roll for how much money their character begins with, and then buy equipment with that money. All equipment is assumed to have been acquired before play starts.

The basic unit of money in LotFP: Weird Fantasy Role-Playing is the Silver Piece. A number of other

coins are also used with the following conversion rates: currency converSion 1 Gold Piece (gp) = 50 Silver Pieces (sp) = 500 Copper Pieces (cp)

StArting Money

Every character begins with 3d6 × 10 sp. If a charac-ter starts above first level, then he begins with 180 sp plus 3d6 × 10 sp for every level greater than one. For example, a fourth level character would begin with 180 + (9d6 × 10 sp).

9 Character Creation

buy equipMent

The Referee should inform the players if there are any restrictions, changes, or additions to the equip-ment tables before characters are created. Costs are given for both City and Rural areas (for these pur-poses a City is a settlement with a population of at least 1,000 people and Rural is any place at least one full day’s travel or more from a City). Since their equipment is considered to have been gathered during their travels prior to the start of play, new characters may use the less expensive prices when buying equipment.

All costs are considered to be for average situa-tions, and a Referee can freely decide that some (or all) prices are more or less expensive based on loca-tion, culture, economic or political upheaval, strong guilds, etc.

All characters are assumed to begin play with a decent set of traveling clothes appropriate for the weather conditions in the starting area of play at no cost, and Magic-Users and Elves have a spellbook containing their beginning spells. These items do not have to be paid for.

chooSe

A nAme

A character’s name is, after his character class, per-haps the most important identifying feature of a character. The Referee should inform players as to the general theme of the campaign, and it is impor-tant to choose a name that will complement that theme.“Ragnar Thorsson the Giant Slayer” would not be appropriate if a Referee has declared that the upcoming game has an ancient Egyptian theme, for instance. A character may be around for quite some time, so care should be taken when choosing a name.

11

Some religions teach the people how to receive the grace of their loving deity. Some religions teach the people how to survive the wrath of a cruel and vicious deity. Some religions simply strive to teach the truth about creation. All religions serving true powers have one thing in common: orders of those

selected few who are not mere priests, but spiri-tual warriors endowed by their deity with mystic powers. These few are known as Clerics.

Clerics can cast spells from the Cleric spell list. Full details of a Cleric’s magical abilities are detailed in the Magic section.

Cleric



SAving tHrowS SpellS per level

level experience Hp pArAlyze poiSon breAtH device MAgic 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1 0 1d6 14 11 16 12 15 1 2 1,750 +1d6 14 11 16 12 15 2 3 3,500 +1d6 14 11 16 12 15 3 4 7,000 +1d6 14 11 16 12 15 3 1 5 14,000 +1d6 12 9 14 10 12 3 2 1 6 28,000 +1d6 12 9 14 10 12 3 3 2 7 56,000 +1d6 12 9 14 10 12 4 3 3 1 8 112,000 +1d6 12 9 14 10 12 4 3 3 2 9 224,000 +1d6 10 7 12 8 9 4 3 3 3 1 10 336,000 +2* 10 7 12 8 9 4 4 3 3 2 11 448,000 +2* 10 7 12 8 9 5 4 4 3 3 1 12 560,000 +2* 10 7 12 8 9 5 4 4 3 3 2 13 672,000 +2* 8 3 8 4 6 5 4 4 4 3 3 1 14 784,000 +2* 8 3 8 4 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 15 896,000 +2* 8 3 8 4 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 16 1,008,000 +2* 8 3 8 4 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 17 1,120,000 +2* 6 2 6 4 5 6 5 5 5 4 4 3 18 1,232,000 +2* 6 2 6 4 5 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 19 1,344,000 +2* 6 2 6 4 5 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 20+ +112,000/lvl +2*/lvl 6 2 6 4 5 8 7 7 6 5 5 4

13

Slaughter defines man’s history. Every new era is defined by the cruelty man inflicts upon man, or the victory fighting against it. To those in power, soldiers are but tools to shape the populace to their whims. The price that is paid to enact their desires is irrelevant to those giving the orders.

In battle, there is no law. Man maims man. Hor-ribly wounded men scream for mercy as their life’s blood pours out from cruelly hacked wounds. Their cries are ignored and their lives extinguished by those too cruel or frightened to listen. Poets and politicians speak of the honor of battle for a just cause, but in battle there is no justice. There is just

death from metal implements that crush, slash, and stab.

To be willing to slaughter at another’s command in the name of peace and nobility, to be hardened to the deaths of loved companions, to be immersed in this worthlessness of life, that is the life of a soldier.

Fighters are these soldiers that have seen the cruelty of battle, have committed atrocities that in any just universe will damn them to Hell, and have survived.

Fighters begin with the best combat capabilities in the game, and are the only character class to fur-ther improve in combat skill as levels are gained.

Fighter



SAving tHrowS

level experience Hit pointS pArAlyze poiSon breAtH device MAgic

0* – 1d6 16 16 16 15 18 1 0 1d8 14 12 15 13 16 2 2,000 +1d8 14 12 15 13 16 3 4,000 +1d8 14 12 15 13 16 4 8,000 +1d8 12 10 13 11 14 5 16,000 +1d8 12 10 13 11 14 6 32,000 +1d8 12 10 13 11 14 7 64,000 +1d8 10 8 9 9 12 8 128,000 +1d8 10 8 9 9 12 9 256,000 +1d8 10 8 9 9 12 10 384,000 +3** 8 6 7 7 10 11 512,000 +3** 8 6 7 7 10 12 640,000 +3** 8 6 7 7 10 13+ +128,000/lvl +3**/lvl 6 4 5 5 8

15

Most of the world lies sheltered from the existence of magic, encountering it only as it vic-timizes them. They huddle in their churches for comfort and trade their freedom and dignity to a ruler as they beg for protection, all for the fear of the supernatural which they do not, and cannot, understand.

Magic-Users choose a different path. Instead of

cowering away from the darkness, they revel in it. They see the forces of magic as a new frontier to explore, a new tool for the attainment of power and knowledge. If it blackens the soul to equal that of any devil, it is but a small price to pay.

Magic-Users can cast spells from the Magic-User spell list. Full details of a Magic-User’s magical abili-ties are detailed in the Magic section.

Magic-User



SAving tHrowS SpellS per level

level experience Hp pArAlyze poiSon breAtH device MAgic 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1 0 1d6 13 13 16 13 14 1 2 2,250 +1d4 13 13 16 13 14 2 3 4,500 +1d4 13 13 16 13 14 2 1 4 9,000 +1d4 13 13 16 13 14 2 2 5 18,000 +1d4 13 13 16 13 14 3 2 1 6 36,000 +1d4 11 11 14 11 12 3 2 2 7 72,000 +1d4 11 11 14 11 12 3 3 2 1 8 144,000 +1d4 11 11 14 11 12 4 3 2 2 9 288,000 +1d4 11 11 14 11 12 4 3 3 2 1 10 432,000 +1* 11 11 14 11 12 4 4 3 2 2 11 576,000 +1* 9 9 12 9 8 5 4 3 3 2 1 12 720,000 +1* 9 9 12 9 8 5 4 4 3 2 2 13 864,000 +1* 9 9 12 9 8 5 5 4 3 3 2 1 14 1,008,000 +1* 9 9 12 9 8 6 5 4 4 3 2 2 15 1,152,000 +1* 9 9 12 9 8 6 5 5 4 3 3 2 1 16 1,296,000 +1* 6 7 8 5 6 6 6 5 4 4 3 2 2 17 1,440,000 +1* 6 7 8 5 6 7 6 5 5 4 3 3 2 1 18 1,584,000 +1* 6 7 8 5 6 7 6 6 5 4 4 3 2 2 19 1,728,000 +1* 5 6 7 4 4 7 7 6 5 5 4 3 3 2 20 +144,000/lvl +1*/lvl 5 6 7 4 4 8 7 6 6 5 4 4 3 2

SAving tHrowS

level experience Hp pArAlyze poiSon breAtH device MAgic Skill pointS

1 0 1d6 14 16 15 14 14 4 2 1,500 +1d6 14 16 15 14 14 +2 3 3,000 +1d6 14 16 15 14 14 +2 4 6,000 +1d6 14 16 15 14 14 +2 5 12,000 +1d6 11 12 14 13 12 +2 6 24,000 +1d6 11 12 14 13 12 +2 7 48,000 +1d6 11 12 14 13 12 +2 8 96,000 +1d6 11 12 14 13 12 +2 9 192,000 +1d6 9 10 12 11 10 +2 10 288,000 +2* 9 10 12 11 10 +2 11 384,000 +2* 9 10 12 11 10 +2 12 480,000 +2* 9 10 12 11 10 +2 13 576,000 +2* 7 8 10 9 8 +2 14 672,000 +2* 7 8 10 9 8 +2 15 768,000 +2* 7 8 10 9 8 +2 16 864,000 +2* 7 8 10 9 8 +2 17+ +96,000/lvl +2*/lvl 5 6 8 7 6 +2/lvl

17

Specialist



fighters are adventurers because they are so inured to death that they cannot settle down to a normal life. Magic-Users are those that have pur-sued the dark arts and are no longer welcome in society. Clerics are charged by their god to go forth and perform their special duties.

Specialists? They do it because they want to. Whether inspired by greed, boredom, or idle curi-osity, Specialists are professional explorers risking life and limb simply because a less active life is dis-tasteful to them. In some ways this makes them the only sane and normal adventuring characters, but in other ways it makes them the most unusual.

The Specialist is unique because the character class has no special abilities of its own. Instead, a Specialist is better at certain activities that all char-acters are able to do at a basic level. The Specialist begins at the same default level in these activities as other characters, but receives “points” which can be allocated to improve his ability in the chosen skills. The available skills (and their default starting values for all characters) are:

Architecture (1 in 6) ¶ Bushcraft (1 in 6) ¶ Climb (1 in 6) ¶ Languages (1 in 6) ¶ Search (1 in 6) ¶ Sleight of Hand (1 in 6) ¶ Sneak Attack ¶ Stealth (1 in 6) ¶ Tinker (1 in 6) ¶

Most of the rules covering these skills can be found in the Adventuring: Rules of the Game section of this book. For skills that are “x in 6”, allocating a point increases the chance by one. For example, Languages begins at 1 in 6. A Specialist allocating a point to this skill increases his chance to 2 in 6.

For other characters, Sneak Attacks are merely attacks made by surprise. A Specialist can multiply the damage done by a Sneak Attack by allocating points to this skill. Assume that the damage mul-tiplier is × 1 for all characters, but for every point allocated to the skill by a Specialist, the damage multiplier is increased by one. If a Specialist has any points in Sneak Attack, then he also gets a +2 bonus to hit above any other bonuses he already has when performing a Sneak Attack.

When use of an ability is attempted, the player must roll d6 and if the result is equal to, or less than the ability, the action is successful. In some cases the Referee will make the roll if the character would not immediately know if he was successful. For example, the character will easily be able to tell if he has successfully picked a lock or not, so the player can make that roll. On the other hand, the character would not know, after searching for traps, if he has failed to find a trap or if there simply is not one pres-ent. In this case, the Referee will make that roll.

If a Specialist has a skill with a rating of 6 in 6, the roll to succeed is made with two dice, and only if both dice come up 6 does the attempt fail.

The Specialist must be unencumbered to use any of the class abilities involving movement or suffer a one point skill penalty per level of encumbrance. They must have Specialist Tools (see Equipment section) to use Search for finding traps or to use Tinker for opening locks or other such activities.

21

the dwarfs are a dying race. Once the most powerful people on the planet, their decline has left them a spiritually shattered people. Once they took great pride in their grand architecture, their techno-logical supremacy, and loved each other just as hard as they worked.

Yet they did not change with the world, and as the rest of the world’s inhabitants came into their own, the Dwarfs retreated into their subterranean fortresses. War and impotence stripped the Dwarfs of their pride, and all that was left was to work.

And work is the life of the average Dwarf. There is no love, no joy. Just never ending work meant to numb the brain and appease the spirit through the acquisition of gems and precious metals. Dwarfs do not even really breed anymore; such is their disre-gard for the basic pleasures of existence.

Not all are like that though. Some strike out into the world, wanting to live. These types often have just as much trouble settling down in human society as their own, and become wandering adventurers.

As a race, Dwarfs are short and stocky, about four feet tall, and one hundred thirty-five pounds. They live about three hundred years. They typically have a ruddy complexion and rather gruff person-alities; joviality is an unknown quality in Dwarfs, even those roaming the surface. All Dwarfs value their beards, and the length of one’s beard is the real measure of a Dwarf’s virility and worth, and often the beard is exquisitely styled and decorated.

Dwarfs are not a magic-using race, but are fierce and resilient warriors. They do have a natu-ral connection with the Earth itself and a cultunatu-ral understanding of construction and due to this has a greater initial Architecture score than other characters.

Dwarfs are able to bear incredible burdens; it takes five additional items for a Dwarf to gain the first encumbrance point. A Dwarf receives a +1 bonus to his Constitution modifier (so a Dwarf with a 12 Constitution has a +1 modifier instead of the usual 0 modifier, for example). A Dwarf also con-tinues to apply his Constitution modifiers, if any, to Hit Points gained after level nine.

Dwarf



SAving tHrowS

level experience Hp pArAlyze poiSon breAtH device MAgic ArcHitecture

0* – 1d8 12 10 15 11 14 3 in 6 1 0 1d10 10 8 13 9 12 3 in 6 2 2,200 +1d10 10 8 13 9 12 3 in 6 3 4,400 +1d10 10 8 13 9 12 3 in 6 4 8,800 +1d10 8 6 10 7 10 4 in 6 5 17,600 +1d10 8 6 10 7 10 4 in 6 6 35,200 +1d10 8 6 10 7 10 4 in 6 7 70,400 +1d10 6 4 7 5 8 5 in 6 8 140,800 +1d10 6 4 7 5 8 5 in 6 9 281,600 +1d10 6 4 7 5 8 5 in 6 10 422,400 +3 4 2 4 3 6 6 in 6 11 563,200 +3 4 2 4 3 6 6 in 6 12+ +140,800/lvl +3 2 2 2 2 4 6 in 6

23

once the epitome of enlightenment and responsibility, elven civilization has fallen before the expansive nature of Man. Where once the Elf nations ruled the forests, the plains and the mountains, their now-small numbers live in secret enclaves, possessing great power, but utterly impo-tent in matters of projecting it. Unlike the Dwarfs, the Elves recognize that this is simply the way of things, and accept their decline with grace. Their attitude towards Man is not so unified, however. Some see Man as the natural heir to creation and seek to guide him and help him rule in wisdom. Some see Man as a great blight, and work to destroy him before he destroys all natural order.

And some, considered young and foolish by their people, walk among Man.

Elves are creatures of magic related to the faerie. As such, they typically enjoy living in the deep wil-derness and adapting their homes to be in harmony with their surroundings. They are on average about five feet tall, and usually slender. Their most strik-ing features are their pointed ears (how large these ears are will differ from region to region) and dis-proportionately large eyes which are often a color not found in the other races.

Player Character Elves are those gifted indi-viduals that are trained as both Fighters and Magic-Users. Elves use the same spell lists and spell progressions as Magic-Users. Full details of an Elf’s magical abilities are detailed in the Magic section.

Elves’ enhanced senses allow them to Search more effectively than others (2 in 6 chance), and they are less often surprised than other races (1 in 6 chance).

Elf



SAving tHrowS SpellS per level

level experience Hp pArAlyze poiSon breAtH device MAgic 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 SeArcH

0* – 1d6 15 14 17 15 17 2 in 6 1 0 1d6 13 12 15 13 15 1 2 in 6 2 3,000 +1d6 13 12 15 13 15 2 2 in 6 3 6,000 +1d6 13 12 15 13 15 2 1 2 in 6 4 12,000 +1d6 11 10 13 11 13 2 2 3 in 6 5 24,000 +1d6 11 10 13 11 13 3 2 1 3 in 6 6 48,000 +1d6 11 10 13 11 13 3 2 2 3 in 6 7 96,000 +1d6 9 8 9 9 11 3 3 2 1 4 in 6 8 192,000 +1d6 9 8 9 9 11 4 3 2 2 4 in 6 9 384,000 +1d6 9 8 9 9 11 4 3 3 2 1 4 in 6 10 576,000 +2** 7 6 7 7 9 4 4 3 2 2 5 in 6 11 768,000 +2** 7 6 7 7 9 5 4 3 3 2 1 5 in 6 12 960,000 +2** 7 6 7 7 9 5 5 4 3 3 2 1 5 in 6 13 1,152,000 +2** 5 4 5 5 7 5 5 4 3 3 2 1 6 in 6 14 1,344,000 +2** 5 4 5 5 7 6 5 4 4 3 2 2 6 in 6 15 1,536,000 +2** 5 4 5 5 7 6 5 5 4 3 3 2 1 6 in 6 16 1,728,000 +2** 5 4 5 5 7 6 6 5 4 4 3 2 2 6 in 6 17+ +192,000/lvl  +2**/lvl 3 3 3 3 5 7 6 5 5 4 3 3 2 1 6 in 6

25

Halflings are curious creatures who are popu-larly known as creatures of leisure, but there is far more to them than that. Usually standing about three feet tall, all other physical features of Hal-flings will differ by region, but one never varies. They have rather large, hairy feet and prefer to go barefoot. Their feet are sufficiently protected and insulated that they suffer not frostbite in the winter, nor disease or parasitical infestation in warmer climes. Halflings as a race do tend to take their plea-sures very seriously, and the fat and happy Halfling stereotype has taken hold because rural farmers, while dedicated and fastidious in their work, have all the food that they could ever want and not a lot of reason to engage in moderation. Those used to that stereotype are very surprised the first time that they meet a chiseled, battle-scarred warrior Halfling. Halflings live on average about one hundred years.

One stereotype of Halflings that rings true is that while they tend to be gracious to guests and not shy about invitations, they do prefer to be home.

Halfling Player Characters are those that have left their homelands to seek adventure and fortune. They are generally seen as troublemakers (and perhaps a touch crazy) by their kin who are not so inclined.

Halflings are very quick and agile folk, and so add one to their Dexterity modifier and receive a one point bonus to Armor Class when not surprised. In the wilderness, Halflings have the uncanny abil-ity to stay hidden and so have a 5 in 6 Stealth skill. Halflings also begin with a 3 in 6 Bushcraft skill due to Halfling society being traditionally in harmony with nature.

Due to their size, Halflings cannot use large weap-ons, and must use medium weapons two-handed.

Halfling



SAving tHrowS

level experience Hp pArAlyze poiSon breAtH device MAgic buSHcrAft

0* – 1d6 12 10 15 11 14 3 in 6 1 0 1d6 10 8 13 9 12 3 in 6 2 2,000 +1d6 8 6 10 7 10 3 in 6 3 4,000 +1d6 8 6 10 7 10 3 in 6 4 8,000 +1d6 6 4 7 5 8 4 in 6 5 16,000 +1d6 6 4 7 5 8 4 in 6 6 32,000 +1d6 4 2 4 3 6 4 in 6 7 64,000 +1d6 4 2 4 3 6 5 in 6 8 128,000 +1d6 2 2 2 2 4 5 in 6 9 256,000 +1d6 2 2 2 2 4 5 in 6 10+ +128,000/lvl +2**/lvl 2 2 2 2 4 6 in 6

27

coSt

ArMor city rurAl bASe Ac

Armor, Leather 25 sp 50 sp 14 Chain 100 sp – 16 Plate 1,000 sp – 18 Shield 10 sp 25 sp Varies Barding, Leather 250 sp – 14 Chain 500 sp – 16 Plate 1,000 sp – 18

Characters wearing armor receive the Base Armor Class listed for their armor type. Unarmored char-acters have a Base AC of 12.

Shields increase AC by 1 point versus mêlée attacks, and by 2 points versus missile attacks.

coSt

Mêlée weAponS city rurAl dAMAge

Cestus 10 sp – 1d3 Garrote 5 sp – 1d6 Lance 30 sp – 1d10 Mancatcher 20 sp – – Polearm 30 sp – 1d8 Rapier 15 sp – 1d8 Spear 5 sp 3 sp 1d6 Staff 5 sp 3 sp 1d4 Weapon, Great 50 sp – 1d10 Medium 20 sp 50 sp 1d8 Minor 5 sp 5 sp 1d4 Small 10 sp 10 sp 1d6 Whip 10 sp 25 sp 1d3

The generic “weapon” categories are only for rules and reference purposes. Characters purchasing such an item must specify exactly what sort of weapon is being purchased.

Silver weapons cost ten times more than stan-dard weapons, and have a 1 in 10 chance to break whenever they are used to attack, even if the attack misses.

Cestus: This includes all sorts of fist wrappings ¶

and brass knuckle weapon types. Users suffer a –2 penalty to hit any opponent with an unad-justed AC of 15 or better.

Garrote: Use of this weapon requires an attack ¶

from surprise, or a successful grapple. If a hit is scored, the target is considered grappled and will take 1d6 damage per round.

Lance: This weapon can be used one-handed if ¶

charging on horseback. Otherwise, it is effec-tively a polearm (pike).

Mancatcher: A successful hit with this weapon ¶

requires the victim to make a saving throw versus Paralysis. If unsuccessful, the victim is considered helpless, as is the wielder of the mancatcher while the target is being held for purposes of defending against attacks. This weapon must be wielded with two hands.

Polearm: This two-handed weapon can be used to ¶

attack from the second rank, can be used to receive a charge, and receives a +1 bonus to hit opponents with an unadjusted AC of 16 or better.

Equipment Lists



28 Rules & Magic Rapier: This one handed weapon suffers a –2 ¶

penalty to hit opponents with an unadjusted AC of 15 or better.

Spear: This can be used to attack from the second ¶

rank, and can be used to receive a charge. Staff: This must be wielded with two hands. ¶

Weapon, Great: These weapons must be wielded ¶

with two hands. Two-handed swords, mauls, and great axes are included in this category. Weapon, Medium: These weapons include stan-¶

dard swords, battle axes, and maces. Halflings must wield them two-handed.

Weapon, Minor: These are small one-handed ¶

weapons including daggers and clubs, and suffer a –2 penalty to hit opponents with an unadjusted AC of 15 or better.

Weapon, Small: These are one-handed weapons, ¶

including short swords and hand axes.

Whip: This weapon is ineffective against targets ¶

with unadjusted AC 14 or better, but allows mêlée attacks on opponents up to 10' away. An “unadjusted” Armor Class is that of solely the armor and shield. Dexterity modifiers, magical modifiers, or any other adjustments are not counted when determining unadjusted AC.

Some weapons can attack “from the second rank.” This is used when there is a definite battle line in combat. Usually only those on the front line of battle can strike, but those weapons usable from the second rank allow anyone immediately behind the battle line to strike as well.

coSt rAnge

MiSSile weAponS city rurAl dAMAge SHort MediuM long

Blowgun 5 sp – – < 20' < 50' < 80' Bow, Long 45 sp – 1d6 < 50' < 600' < 900' Short 25 sp 25 sp 1d6 < 50' < 300' < 450' Crossbow, Heavy 30 sp – 1d8 < 50' < 200' < 600' Light 25 sp – 1d6 < 50' < 150' < 400' Rock – – 1d2 < 10' < 20' < 30' Sling 1 sp 5 cp 1d4 < 50' < 300' < 450' Dart 1 sp – 1d4 < 10' < 20' < 30' Spear 5 sp 3 sp 1d6 < 10' < 20' < 60'

Other Thrown Weapon (same as mêlée equivalent) < 10' < 20' < 30' Arrows and crossbow bolts cost 5 cp each, sling

¶

bullets cost 2 cp each.

Targets at Medium range are –2 to hit, –4 to hit ¶

at Long range.

Light crossbows can only be fired every other ¶

round and ignore 2 AC points, heavy crossbows fire every third round and ignore 4 AC points.

Each missile weapon can be fired once per round ¶

with the exception of the crossbows noted above.

Slings fired with stones instead of bullets have ¶

29 Equipment Lists

coSt

AniMAlS city rurAl

Carrier Pigeon 100 sp 100 sp Dog 1 sp 2 sp Horse, Riding 100 sp 100 sp War 500 sp – Livestock 10 sp 5 sp Mule 50 sp 25 sp Pony 75 sp 50 sp coSt

contAinerS city rurAl

Backpack 3 sp 1 sp Barrel 1 sp 5 sp Chest 10 sp 5 sp Pouch 5 cp 1 cp Quiver 5 sp 10 sp Sack 5 cp 2 cp Saddlebag 1 sp 5 cp A quiver plus the arrows or bolts it carries (20 maxi-mum) count as one item together for encumbrance purposes.

coSt

veHicleS city rurAl

Cart 50 sp 25 sp Coach 500 sp – Wagon 150 sp 75 sp Chariot 250 sp – Boat, Raft 5 sp 5 sp Canoe 30 sp 25 sp Lifeboat 100 sp – Ship, Trireme 10,000 sp – Quadrireme 50,000 sp – Longship 30,000 sp – River Galley 4,000 sp 8,000 sp Riverboat 1,000 sp 2,000 sp Sailboat 6,000 sp 12,000 sp Cog 15,000 sp – Caravel 39,000 sp – Carrack 48,000 sp – Galleon 60,000 sp – Cutter 45,000 sp – Brig 90,000 sp – Corvette 135,000 sp – Frigate 180,000 sp –

Good quality boats cost 5% more. Excellent qual-ity boats cost 15% more. Advanced boats cost 33% more. Poor boats cost 10% less, and Awful boats cost 25% less.

coSt

food city rurAl

Bottle of Wine/Liquor, Poor 5 cp 2 cp Decent > 1 sp > 1 sp Rich > 10 sp – Drink, Cheap 1 cp 1 cp Decent 3 cp 2 cp Good 6 cp 4 cp Rich > 15 sp > 10 sp Meal, Fancy 1 sp 5 cp Horrid 2 cp 1 cp Rich > 15 sp > 10 sp Standard 5 cp 3 cp Rations, Iron/Day 2 sp 1 sp Standard/Day 1 sp 5 cp Feed, Animal/Day 1 sp 5 cp coSt

ServiceS city rurAl

Post, Local 1 sp –

Municipal 5 sp –

Kingdom 15 sp 15 sp

Outrealm 25 sp 25 sp

Coach, Local 1 sp –

Travel, per day 10 sp 10 sp Charter, per day 20 sp – Freight, per pound per day 5 cp 5 cp Ship, Passage, per day 2 sp – Charter, per day 100 sp 100 sp

coSt

lodging city rurAl

Barn – 1 cp Inn, Poor 1 sp 5 cp Average 5 sp 2 sp Secure 10 sp 5 sp Fancy > 25 sp > 2 sp Extravagant > 100 sp > 25 sp Rent, 1 month (per 10' sq.) 30 sp 15 sp Costs are per day, unless noted. The cost to buy instead of rent is one hundred times the listed monthly rental price.

RPQOPQOPS

30 Rules & Magic

coSt MiScellAneouS equipMent city rurAl

Air Bladder 1 sp 1 sp

Bedroll 2 sp 1 sp

Block and Tackle 2 sp 3 sp

Book, Blank 5 sp 10 sp

Reading 10 sp 20 sp

Spell (Blank) 100 sp –

Caltrop 5 cp –

Candle 1 cp 1 cp

Chain, per foot 1 sp 2 sp

Chalk 1 cp 1 cp Clothing, Extravagant > 20 sp – Normal 5 sp 2 sp Poor 1 sp 5 cp Winter Travel 10 sp 5 sp Cooking Pots 1 sp 5 cp Crampons 5 sp 5 sp Crowbar 2 sp 2 sp Drill 5 sp 5 sp Fishing Gear 1 sp 1 sp

Flask of Lamp Oil 5 cp 5 cp

Garlic 3 cp 1 cp

Gem > 5 sp > 5 sp

Grappling Hook 5 sp 10 sp

Holy Symbol, Silver 25 sp 50 sp

Steel 10 sp 10 sp Wood 1 sp 1 cp Holy Water 25 sp 25 sp Hourglass 100 sp – Ink 1 cp 5 cp Instrument > 1 sp > 5 sp Jewelry > 10 sp > 10 sp Ladder, 10' 10 sp 7 sp Lantern 3 sp 5 sp Lard 1 cp 1 cp Lock 7 sp 10 sp Mallet 3 cp 3 cp Manacles 10 sp 15 sp coSt

cont. city rurAl

Map, Kingdom 10 sp 25 sp Local 1 sp 5 sp Mirror, Glass 10 sp 15 sp Silver 30 sp – Steel 1 sp 5 sp Nails 1 cp 2 cp Paper 2 cp 2 cp Pick, Miner’s 6 sp 12 sp Pipe 1 sp 5 cp Pole, 10' 1 sp 5 cp Riding Gear 25 sp 10 sp Rope, 50' 3 sp 3 sp Scroll Case 1 sp 3 sp Shovel 3 sp 3 sp Soap 1 cp 1 cp Specialist’s Tools 50 sp – Spike, Iron 3 cp 5 cp Wooden 1 cp 1 cp Spyglass 250 sp – Tent, Grand 25 sp – Pavilion 50 sp – Personal 5 sp 10 sp Regular 10 sp 20 sp Tinderbox 1 sp 5 sp Tobacco 1 sp 5 cp Torch 1 cp 1 cp

Vial or Bottle, Empty 5 cp 7 cp

Waterskin 1 sp 1 sp

Whistle 1 sp 1 sp

Wolvesbane 1 sp 1 cp

Italicized items are considered Non-Encumbering

items for encumbrance purposes, although the Ref-eree can rule that quantities of the items do count towards encumbrance. Items listed in both italics and bold are considered to be Oversized.

31

ARchitectuRe

Clues, warnings, and rewards can be built into the very structures of a character’s surroundings. Determining if a certain portion of a structure was built at a different time than the surrounding construction, determining if a passage shifts or slopes gradually, detecting if a particular structure is unsafe to travel in/on, determining what culture or even specific method of construction was used for any specific structure, all of these things (and more—this list merely illustrates some possibili-ties) can be important in keeping explorers alive and/or helping them achieve their goals of unlock-ing ancient mysteries.

Any character has a 1 in 6 chance to note any of these features in the surrounding architecture. Use of this skill is not passive; the character must spend one turn examining the structure.

climbing

All characters have a base 1 in 6 chance to use the Climb skill, which allows a character to climb walls and other sheer surfaces without obvious hand-holds. Characters (except Specialists) must be unencumbered to make this attempt. Failure means that the character falls from a random point in the

climb. Characters with two free hands can climb ropes and ladders with no die roll needed.

DooRS

Locked doors are impassable without a key, pick-ing the lock (which requires a Tinker skill roll and Specialist Tools), or breaking the door down. Breaking the door down requires the appropriate equipment (some sort of axe for a wooden door, a pick for stone, etc.) and takes 1 turn for wooden doors, 2 or more turns for doors made of other materials.

Many doors in dungeons and ruins are merely stuck. To open a standard stuck door (wood with iron banding), a character must successfully make an Open Doors roll (base 1 in a 6 chance), Strength modifiers apply to the roll’s chances, so having a Strength modifier of +1 means there is a 2 in 6 chance of opening the door. Use of a crowbar adds a further 1 to the chance, and each additional person helping adds another (although only two people can attempt to open a standard-sized door). Each attempt takes 1 turn.

Doors made of stronger or heavier materials may need a greater number to open (a giant stone door may have a –2 in 6 chance to be opened, requiring bonuses before there is even a chance to open it, for example), or be impossible to open.

Adventuring:

33 Adventuring: The Rules of the Game

excAvAtionS

A single man can excavate 3 cubic feet of earth per hour if he has proper equipment (Strength modifi-ers apply to the number of cubic feet). He can dig at half of this rate if he has improvised tools, and one quarter of this rate if he has no tools at all.

exPeRience PointS

Experience Points (XP) are a measure of improve-ment and progress for Player Characters. They are the way that the game “keeps score.” However, like many other concepts in this game, XP is an abstract concept and not a literal measure of the experiences that a character has had or what a character has learned. Not all character actions and successes will result in XP awards, nor will all adventures involve XP.

At the end of every session of play, Experience Points will be awarded to characters who partici-pated in the game. These Experience awards are to be divided equally amongst the surviving participants of the adventure. Characters present for portions of the adventure should only get a share of Experience for the activities in which they participated. Expe-rience Points are gained in two ways—Defeating Enemies and Recovering Treasure.

defeAting eneMieS

Defeating enemies is a minor way of gaining expe-rience. This is not a game about combat or slaying foes; these activities are simply frequent necessities in the harsh reality of the game. Characters who prefer to fight when it is unnecessary are lunatics, possibly psychotic, and not likely to survive long in a game run by a competent Referee.

To count for XP purposes, an “enemy” must be a threat and predisposed to hostility towards the player characters. Randomly slaying a villager, slaughtering livestock, hunting, etc., does not count towards XP rewards.

For purposes of XP, “defeating” is defined as winning a battle against a foe where force of arms

is used or at least threatened. An enemy must be brought to 0hp, or lose a Morale check, or surrender in order to count as having been “defeated.” Sneak-ing past, trickSneak-ing, or negotiatSneak-ing with an enemy may prevent combat and lead to other rewards, but it does not translate to XP. Using magic to neutral-ize or pacify an enemy does count, so spells such as Sleep or Charm do count towards “defeating” an

opponent.

eneMy Hit dice xp AwArd

< 1 5 1 10 2 25 3 50 4 75 5 100 6 250 7 500 8 750 9 1,000 10 1,250 11 + 1,500

Sometimes enemies surrender and are ransomed or let free, or flee an earlier battle, and return to fight again. An enemy can only count for XP once in any given game session.

Monsters with special abilities count as one Hit Die more, and classed characters count as one Hit Die more than their level.

recovering treASure

This is the primary method for gaining XP in the game. However, not all monetary gains are counted as “treasure.” The following will gain the characters wealth, but they do not count for XP purposes:

Coins looted from bodies outside of adventure ¶

locations Rewards ¶

Selling equipment stripped from foes ¶

Selling magical items that have been used by a ¶

player character or retainer Tax income

¶

Theft of wealth from mundane merchants, rulers, ¶

RPQOPS

34 Rules & Magic

Trade, commerce, and other business activity ¶

(including selling of mundane items stripped from foes)

The following treasures do count for XP purposes: All valuable objects recovered from uncivilized ¶

or abandoned areas

Money hoarded by creatures who have no actual ¶

use of it

Treasure is calculated for XP only after it has been returned to a secure location. One silver piece worth of treasure is worth 1 Experience Point. Experience is divided between all surviving party members involved in an adventure.

gAining A level

When a character earns enough Experience Points to qualify for the next level, the change will happen the next time the character has returned to a secure location. At that point the character’s level changes, and all benefits of that next level are immediately granted. Three points to consider when gaining a new level:

A damaged character that gains a level has his new additional Hit Points added to both the cur-rent and maximum total. The character will still be damaged for the same amount of points as before. For example, a 1st level Fighter has a maximum of 8hp, but after a battle only has 3 hp left (5 points lost). The XP gained from the battle and resulting treasure was enough to push him to the next level. After returning to town, the player rolls 1d8 for the character’s additional Hit Points for gaining a level. The player rolls a 5, so the Fighter’s maximum Hit Points increased to 13, and the current Hit Point total becomes 8 (still 5 points lost).

Spellcasting characters must still prepare all spells as normal. The increased number of spells available to cast does not automatically make the number of spells already prepared instantly increase as well.

Magic-Users and Elves who gain a free spell for their spellbook must still research that spell as usual and take the usual amount of time. It simply will not cost the money that researching a spell usually does.

Characters can only gain a maximum of one level per game session. Any Experience Points over half-way to the next level earned from a single session is lost.

FoRAging

AnD hunting

Characters may be able to find food and water during their journeys overland. To find food in the wilderness, the character must roll against his Bushcraft skill, with terrain modifying the skill as follows:

terrAin cHAnce of finding food

Plains +1 in 6 Mountain normal Forest +2 in 6 Desert –1 in 6 Jungle +2 in 6 Swamp normal

Hunting takes time, and the distance traveled during a day where successful hunting occurs is lessened by 1d4 × 25%. Unsuccessful hunting takes all day. Suc-cess means that 1d4 days’ worth of meals for a single person has been acquired for the party.

1d10 units of ammunition are expended in the attempt. If a character does not have a proper mis-sile weapon, the chance to find food is lowered by 1. If a character has no missile weapon at all, reduce the chance by one more. If it is winter, reduce the chances by another point unless in the desert, where this does not matter.

All food gained from foraging and hunting is con-sidered to be the equivalent of “standard rations.”

Finding enough water to drink is easy in most environments, but in the desert water can only be found if a Bushcraft roll is successfully made on 1d12 rather than 1d6.

35 Adventuring: The Rules of the Game

getting loSt

Characters can confidently follow trails, roads, and other well-known landmarks without fear of becoming lost. However, when traveling across the wilderness it is easy to lose direction. At the start of each day of travel, the Referee will roll 1d6, and on a 1 the party may go off course. The Referee should then make a secret roll against the highest Bushcraft skill among the characters in the traveling party. If this roll fails, the group is lost.

If the roll indicates that the party is lost, it likely will not realize it immediately. The party will con-tinue on in its travels, its members not understanding that they are off course for days. The Referee will decide which direction the group is traveling, and how far off it is from its intended direction. One option is to pick a direction only slightly off course. For example, if the group intended to go south, it is actually headed southwest or southeast.

hAzARDS

Ability Score loSS

Loss of ability scores only affects the character so much as their modifiers and bonuses will change. A character dropping from Strength 13 to Strength 12 will no longer have any Strength modifier, for exam-ple. This is most striking with Constitution, as any change in Constitution modifier is applied immedi-ately to both current and maximum Hit Points.

A character who falls to zero in any ability score dies.

Aging

Characters who grow old will lose their faculties and eventually die. The chart below gives the start-ing age that characters must make a savstart-ing throw versus Paralyzation, at what ages there are penalties to the modifier, and how often the saving throw must be made. A failed saving throw means that one randomly determined ability score will perma-nently decrease by one point.

no Modifier –2 –4 intervAl

Dwarf 200 250 300 5

Elf Elves do not age

Halfling 70 80 100 1

Human 40 50 60 1

If a character is aged by magical means, then all saving throws that would have needed to be made if the aging occurred naturally must be made imme-diately, with any ability score penalties also being applied immediately.

dAMAge

When a character (or creature) suffers damage, the amount of damage is deducted from the character’s current Hit Points. When his Hit Points reach 0, the character becomes unable to take any action, and in most cases falls completely unconscious. The char-acter becomes mortally wounded at –3 Hit Points and will die in 1d10 minutes. No healing, magical or otherwise, can prevent death at this point. Death is instantaneous at –4 Hit Points.

diSeASe

Characters exploring in godforsaken ruins, ancient tombs, and trackless wilderness can become exposed to all sorts of plagues and illnesses. Natu-ral, chronic illnesses will not normally be a part of the game as far as player characters are concerned. That said, the Referee is free to introduce an NPC stricken by cancer or some other illness.

Diseases are individual in nature, but all have the following characteristics: incubation period, infec-tion time, interval, and effect.

When exposed to a disease, the Referee will make a save versus Poison on behalf of the character. If the save is failed, then the character has contracted the disease. The incubation period describes the length of time before the character is affected, and at that point the character must make another save, and then another save at every interval point for the duration of the infection time, or else suffer the effect for each failed save. Each save after the disease is contracted is made with a –2 penalty if the charac-ter is not at rest for the duration of the infection.

For example, the Green River Fever has an incu-bation period of one week, an interval of four hours,